


Heists and Humbug

by raiyana



Series: Nwalin works [4]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Blue Mountains | Ered Luin, Spymaster Nori (Tolkien)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 02:09:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12854478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raiyana/pseuds/raiyana
Summary: The Life of the Black Owl in Ered Luin





	Heists and Humbug

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Blue_Sparkle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Sparkle/gifts).



> tiny ficlet in response to @asparklethatisblue

“Psst, Captain... Captain! _DWALIN_!” Nori hissed, glancing behind him to ensure that no one was around to catch him sitting in the window that belonged to the Captain of the Guard’s bedroom.

“Huh, hey, what?” Dwalin slurred, blinking blearily at the figure that was blocking the light of the moon. Recognising the three peaks, his hand slowly unclenched, putting the axe that seemed to spring into his hand of its own volition when he was woken abruptly down on the floor beside his bed. “Nori?”

“Ssshhh!” Nori hissed, glancing behind him once more before slinking into the room like his bones were liquid, landing easily beneath the window-frame. Dwalin stared. Nori’s pale skin had been darkened, somehow, even though the pale light of the moon washed out all colours, but the Thief was definitely not as pale as usual.

“Who is going to kill you?” he asked, his mind waking slowly but surely, his fingers itching to grasp his axe again. Nori shook his head, but Dwalin caught the edge of fondness in his smile.

“No one,” Nori whispered, “not _yet_ , anyway.” Dwalin frowned lightly. “Well, it seems my uncanny luck with evading capture is getting suspicious again,” Nori admitted, making Dwalin groan. He had never had much luck with objecting to the way Nori liked to fulfil his obligations as the King’s Third Eye, but he really didn’t want to come across a pale pointy-faced body one day - though, with Nori’s enemies, it was far more likely that he would simply end up ‘lost’ in the bad rock that bordered their struggling settlement. The thought made Dwalin shudder. He might not be willing to admit it, but he was far fonder of the slight thief than he let on. “But the Surlie brothers are suspicious, and I haven’t yet figured out the last bits of their operation.”

“What ‘heist’ will we be foiling tomorrow?” Dwalin sighed, by now used to how this dance went. Nori’s face split in a wide grin that did not at all make the corners of Dwalin’s mouth twitch to return it.

“You know the silver-smith down Carnelian Street,” Nori said, his long fingers gesturing, “of course you do, silly Nori,” he murmured to himself. Dwalin shook his head, but Nori didn’t look up to see it, counting off parts of the plan on his fingers.

“So you’ll be caught with the loot, we’ll wrestle it off you, and you’ll escape into the bad rock?” Dwalin asked, letting his disapproval colour his tone. The bad rock had been named s _precisely because_ it was unstable and seemed bent on killing all but the luckiest dwarrow attempting to traverse it. Nori grinned his fox-smile. Dwalin shuddered, not for the first time pleased to be working _with_ the thief, rather than _against_ him. Nori’s grin widened, sweeping him a mock bow as he straightened, slinking out of the window as swiftly as he’d entered. Dwalin had yet to figure out how he managed, considering the window was almost three times higher up than Nori should have been able to reach.

Shaking his head, the Captain of the Guard of Ered Luin returned to his interrupted rest, flashes of auburn hair and sneaky smiles appearing in his dreams.


End file.
